Samson!
“Samson!” Kevin had just walked into Mt. Zen Cafe for his Wednesday morning meeting with Roscoe. It was his first day back after the break in San Francisco. He could still feel the weight of food that his mother and grandmother had fed him while he visited. All he wanted was a strong coffee and Curly’s Egg Thing. Instead, the crowd of Emigration boys were in the cafe, waiting for him with yet ANOTHER nickname.
“Lobo thought of the perfect name for you and since he’s the one you rescued, we decided that this is it!” That kid who used to call him Chink, walked up to him and put his arm around Kevin. Kevin squirmed uncomfortably. Curly was watching it all through the pass-through window. The two of them locked eyes for a moment and Kevin responded, “I like that name. You should call me that from now on.” Kevin looked at the kid he rescued for the first time since the avalanche. What did they call him? Lobo? The fat Mexican kid was sitting awkwardly with his leg in a cast. His jeans had been cut at the thigh and were frayed at the top of the cast.
Lobo’s friend kept talking, “You don’t understand the name. You see, Samson was a strong man because he never cut his hair.” The teenagers laughed and the obnoxious teenager ruffled Kevin’s straggly hair. Suddenly, he was so grateful that he had not taken the time to get a “proper” haircut like his grandmother kept admonishing. He tried to explain, “It’s warmer with extra hair. I’ll cut it when summer comes.” The cafe burst into laughter. Lobo replied, “You better not! How will you pick me up like I’m nothing and carry me to safety?!”
Curly walked out of the kitchen with an Egg Thing and a large coffee. Kevin watched him for a long moment while he carefully carried the food. “So, Samson.” The group nodded at Curly’s use of Kevin’s new name. “They paid for your breakfast.” They locked eyes for a second and Kevin instantly knew that from that moment onward, he would be called Samson by everyone in Merriton and that he could never cut his hair for as long as he lived there.